A Progress Report on Barcelona Heading into October International Break

Barcelona have had a bad start to the season and a good start to the season all at once.

That sounds complicated, but it boils down to the fact they have not played very well—at least by their own lofty standards—but are strongly placed in the table.

For the defending champions to be fourth in the table after nearly two months of play, you would imagine something has gone badly wrong.

And it has. Many things have, in fact. But what’s even more interesting is that fourth in the table carries the same number of points as third and second, which is 15. And first in the table, Villarreal, are only on 16.

Add into the equation that Barcelona are two points ahead of title contenders Atletico Madrid, who have 13, and level with arch-rivals Real Madrid, and the facts seem to conflict with the feelings.

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If you simply look at the raw statistics, Barcelona have regressed in all areas. Not one part of the team is as strong as it was at the end of last season.

Facts like not being able to keep a clean sheet since the second league game of the campaign, a 1-0 win over Malaga. Facts like, the 4-1 win over Levante aside, only being able to win any game by a single goal. Facts like being trounced by Celta Vigo away and beaten by an injury-hit Sevilla.

But there are plenty of reasons for that, including some general ones which cover the whole team's dip in performance, as well as specific problems which have affected certain positions and players.

Starting with the most general of all, momentum is a key factor. A team simply does not carry straight on after a summer break, playing exactly the same way.

Some of Barcelona's players had busy summers, with Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano, Dani Alves, Neymar and Claudio Bravo playing at the Copa America in Chile.

Following on from a World Cup summer in 2014, that means many of these stars haven't had a good, proper break in some time, which takes its toll both on a mental and physical level.

Furthermore, in pre-season last summer, the team stayed in Europe, only making a couple of short trips.

This time they had a pre-season tour of the United States, going from coast to coast. On top of that, the calendar was packed full of commercial commitments.

Then there was the FIFA transfer ban. Barcelona have not been allowed to register new players for two windows now. They have signed Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal, but neither is allowed to play until January.

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Compound that with losing experienced, talented professionals like Xavi Hernandez and Pedro Rodriguez, to Qatar’s Al Sadd and England’s Chelsea respectively, and a storm is brewing.

These are the general issues. Then there are the more specific problems of form and injuries.

Going back to front, we’ll start with goalkeepers Claudio Bravo and Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The Chilean has been injured for several weeks and only made his comeback on Saturday against Sevilla.

It didn’t go particularly well, although neither of Sevilla’s two goals in their 2-1 win was his fault. In the meantime, the German stopper has been filling his spot. Unsuccessfully.

After a quite magnificent debut season in which he excelled in the Champions League and Copa del Rey runs, as Barcelona won the treble, his second term has been significantly worse.

Ter Stegen shipped four in the UEFA Super Cup as Barcelona beat Sevilla 5-4 in Georgia, then pulled off the same trick as they were beaten 4-0 by Athletic Club in Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup.

The 23-year-old has failed to keep a single clean sheet all season, shipping 17 goals by the end of September. In the entirety of last season he only let in 16 goals. That in itself suggests there is a problem.

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However, Ter Stegen is popular with the fans. They enjoy his eccentricity, his willingness to play with his feet and behave in an unorthodox fashion. They also, reasonably, expect him to become their first-choice goalkeeper for many years to come.

It means that, in some quarters, he is defended to the hilt and all the blame is shifted on to the defence.

The truth is it’s a mixture of problems with Ter Stegen’s game and the men in front of him that is the problem.

The keeper can iron out those problems; None of them are critical. And the defence can certainly do better.

Absence has also been a problem here. Dani Alves was injured for several weeks, Jordi Alba missed some games with a neck problem, while Gerard Pique was banned for four matches for swearing at a linesman in the Spanish Super Cup. Thomas Vermaelen looked brilliant then promptly got re-injured again. Even Adriano picked up an injury.

And who knows where Douglas is?

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The only three players to stay entirely problem-free in the defence are Marc Bartra, Javier Mascherano and Jeremy Mathieu. And they have other issues.

Bartra does not appear to be fully trusted by Luis Enrique, who uses him sparingly, Mathieu has been inconsistent and often a weak spot in the back line and Mascherano has been struggling to find anything like his best form.

Furthermore, they seem to have completely lost their ability to defend set-pieces. That has been a long-term problem, but last season it seemed to be fixed by Luis Enrique and his assistant Juan Carlos Unzue.

Recent goals they have conceded against Levante and Bayer Leverkusen came from badly defended corners.

Now that the first-choice defence—Bravo plus Alba-Mascherano-Pique-Alves—are fit, they can start getting their rhythm back and perhaps the problems will solve themselves.

The midfield has also been a worry. Rafinha and Andres Iniesta are injured, the former for several months, the latter for a few weeks.

That leaves the team short, with Sergi Roberto, who had been doing a marvellous job of filling in at right-back, now having to provide cover for those two positions.

Miguel Angel Morenatti/Associated Press

Ivan Rakitic, who had a fine first season and should be kicking on from there, has gone 'missing in action', with the Croatian looking a shadow of the force he was in the second half of the previous campaign.

Sergio Busquets has been reasonable, but because of the injuries he has sometimes been asked to play in a role further forward, which does not suit him.

The problems here are mainly to do with squad depth—or lack of it—plus Rakitic’s form—or lack of it.

Then we come to the attack, the jewel in Barcelona’s crown. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were the three players instrumental in the treble last season.

Unfortunately, Messi sustained a knee injury against Las Palmas and will miss around eight games, including the Leverkusen and Sevilla matches last week.

Neymar had been in poor form too, but was brilliant against the Andalucians and unlucky to be on the losing side. Suarez, meanwhile, is doing well and there can be no complaints.

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Sadly for Barcelona, with Pedro departing, the only back-ups are Munir El Haddadi and Sandro Ramirez.

Neither is capable of playing excellently for the first team on a regular basis, although both have their qualities and can be useful.

Munir set up Suarez’s winner against Leverkusen, while Sandro won the penalty which Neymar scored against Sevilla.

So Barcelona’s team is walking wounded, out of form and suffering. And yet they are level on points with their main title contenders. And when you look at the fixtures played, the Catalans have the advantage.

Both Barcelona and Real Madrid have played Athletic and Atletico away, but Luis Enrique’s team also have tough away trips to Celta Vigo and Sevilla done and dusted.

Madrid, on the other hand, have had easier fixtures so far, with visits to Sporting Gijon and Espanyol not as taxing on paper as the aforementioned sides Barcelona have faced.

So, while individually and as a team, Barcelona are troubled, they are actually doing rather well for their situation.

If they avoid defeat in El Clasico in November, they will likely still be in touching distance of Madrid come January. And that would spell trouble for Rafa Benitez’s side.